UAE must enact child protection law, FNC member says

Abused children are in urgent need of a system to both remove them from dangerous situations and aid in their subsequent recovery, FNC member Dr Mona Al Bahar says.

ABU DHABI // A leading child-ren’s rights campaigner has called for a comprehensive social support system, backed by law, to care for abused children.

Dr Mona Al Bahar, an FNC member and a driving force behind the proposed Child Rights Law, said more must be done to protect vulnerable young people.

The child protection law was passed by the FNC last year but is awaiting final approval. It has clauses that give child specialists, under the supervision of the Ministry of Justice, the authority to enter a house and remove endangered children.

As The National reports today, social services workers are helpless to intervene in the case of one Abu Dhabi family of 10 children who are living in squalor and deprivation.

“It’s not just about the law, it’s what do we do with these children once they are removed from this environment,” Dr Al Bahar said.

Abu Dhabi lacks a centre for abused and abandoned children, although one is planned.

“We need to find a facility to protect these children in terms of finding a shelter for them until the situation is resolved.

“Why do we have to wait until something happens to the children? Without the law, social support’s hands are tied and the children cannot be removed unless a family member files a case.

“If the mother files a case it will take months before it goes through court. Do we leave her in this time to be further abused because her husband will probably be even angrier?”